Ottawa -
Despite tensions over conflicts in Syria and Ukraine, Russia and the West have maintained a strong working relationship in the Arctic and Canada's new Liberal government is looking to further bolster that cooperation.

The largest cruise ship in Arctic history is sailing through the historic Northwest Passage, ushering in a new era of Arctic tourism. Until about a decade ago, only ships with ice-breaking capabilities were able to navigate the route even in summer.

New concerns have been raised about the impact of plastic waste dumped into the world’s oceans. A new report indicates that waste from Northern Europe, for example, will reach the Arctic within two years.

Tornio -
The skimmer is lowered from the rear of the icebreaker, its weight pushing massive pieces of ice under the water and forcing the spilt oil up to the surface, where the sticky black goo can be sucked up.

Paris -
Once the world as a whole has warmed by two degrees Celsius, top temperatures in the United States and Mediterranean basin will have climbed by even more, according to a study released Wednesday.A global 2C (3.

Pelly Bay -
Beneath the Aurora Borealis an oil tanker glides through the night past the Coast Guard ice breaker Amundsen and vanishes into the maze of shoals and straits of the Northwest Passage, navigating waters that for millennia were frozen over this time of y...

Kirkenes -
Pedalling a bicycle through a freezing blizzard, Rehman finally crosses the border between Russia and Norway where he hopes to be given asylum, half a world away from his home in Pakistan."It's snowing.

Kirkenes -
An increasingly popular route for migrants across Russia and into Norway has Oslo angered and worried as winter approaches, while commentators suspect Moscow is deliberately creating problems for its neighbour.

Pelly Bay -
Beneath the Aurora Borealis an oil tanker glides through the night past the Coast Guard ice breaker Amundsen and vanishes into the maze of shoals and straits of the Northwest Passage, navigating waters that for millennia were frozen over this time of y...

Moscow -
Russia pressed a claim at the United Nations Tuesday for an additional 1.2 million square kilometres (463,000 square miles) of Arctic shelf, stepping up a race for the region's hydrocarbon and mineral wealth.

Copenhage -
Denmark will lay claim to energy-rich but contested territory around the North Pole on Monday by submitting data to the UN which it says demonstrates the area is an extension of its continental shelf.

Hammerfest -
Norway is experiencing unusually high summer temperatures at present and on Monday, authorities were forced to close part of a motorway in the Arctic north, after reindeer sought shady refuge in a road tunnel.

Most people don't know where the "Doomsday vault" is located, and even fewer know what it is used for. But deep inside a mountain on a remote island in the Svalbard archipelago, halfway between Norway and the North Pole, is a treasure trove of seeds.

To survive the wintery conditions in the Arctic, scientists have found that one part of an reindeer’s eyes changes color. This adaptation increases the sensitivity of the animal’s vision, helping it navigate the through the darker months.

The Northern Sea Route is defined as going from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean, running along the Russian Arctic coast from Murmansk on the Barents Sea, along Siberia, to the Bering Strait and Far East.

keepscases

Sea ice hits record lows for November 2016.

NSIDC

Scattered ice floes are seen from the bridge of the USCGC Healy on August 20, 2012 northwest of Barrow, Alaska. Arctic sea ice fell to its lowest daily extent in the satellite record on Sunday, August 26, 2012, a record since surpassed.

NSIDC/US Coastguard

A Tumstone at the edge of a snow patch.

University of Queensland

North Pole: Winter ice cover

North Pole Environmental Observatory

A bird's eye view of the wreck of the Maud, taken last year with the help of a kite. Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen explored the far north in the vessel from 1918 to 1920.